


Good Little Soldier

by orphan_account



Series: I Will Make You Hurt [2]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alpha!Eren, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst, Baby Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Gen, M/M, Mpreg, Omega!Armin, Pre-Slash, actual baby fluff, also actual slash, armin has a son with alpha!reiner, because of the decapitation thing, put a damper on things for a while, reiners not exactly in a fit position to be a parent rn, shit yeah, theres a shitton of pairings and stuff but everyones either dead or going to die so enjoy that, yeah the good shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-07
Updated: 2014-06-14
Packaged: 2018-02-03 18:45:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1754453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>a series of drabbles set after the events in 'You're A Warrior, Not A Lover', but before the sequel. actually some of them happen before the first story. it's all over the place, wow. really, it's meant to show how Reagan grew up, with some extra stuff thrown in for you to chew on while i move on to bigger projects.</p><p>in a few words: lots and lots of daddy armin</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Safe In My Arms

If someone told Armin that the labour had almost killed him, he would have quite stubbornly refused to believe it. He held his would-be killer in his arms, all bundled up in a white blanket like a little red wrinkle of an angel, and Armin was head-over-heels in love.

Reagan Levi Arlert was born at 8:37 pm, on January 13th, year 851. He weighed just a little under 8 pounds at birth, and screamed his little head off as soon as the doctor got ahold of him. Eren cut the cord, with Mikasa watching fiercely nearby. Armin figured that the medical staff had been frustrated with having two alphas in the same room as an omega and a newborn, because they chased everyone off by insisting that Armin needed time to rest and gather his strength, and even Eren cowered under the intense glare that the head doctor gave him at the first sign of protest. The blond had been too tired to wave them off, and by the time the doctors were also ready to give him privacy, he could feel his eyes drooping as though little lead weights had been settled on the tips of his lashes.

That was, until something small and warm was put into his arms. "It's a boy," a nurse said kindly- a beta with a curiously motherly face. Armin decided he liked her the best, since everyone else had been tiptoeing around him as best as they could when they were notified of who exactly the other father was.

That other, unspeakable father.

This new little boy in Armin's arms looked nothing like either of them. He thought he saw a little bit of a tilt at the end of his nose, like the beginnings of the button-shape that he himself had, but really, he looked just like any other baby. He'd been cleaned off and was snuffling softly, probably as tired as Armin felt and looked, though he knew he had to stay awake long enough to feed this little life he'd been left to take care of; the one that was part him, part Reiner Braun. The baby that had been drumming his little feet impatiently in Armin's stomach not fourteen hours ago was still bright red, though carefully cleaned and swaddled in a material so soft Armin hardly dared to imagine the cost of it. He tucked his tiny fists up to his chin and mouth, eyes closed and puffy, with his head perfectly cradled against the crook of Armin's elbow, like he was meant to sleep there. The blond sucked in a tiny breath. 

He already loved this baby so desperately that is stole the air from his lungs, sent it back at him in flaming arrows in his eyes, and made his lips pull together in a terribly ugly grimace against his waxy, tired skin. Most of his hair had been shoved back into an awkward ponytail, but a lot of it had found freedom somewhere in the screaming and pushing, and it curled against his sticky forehead and neck like a curtain of dead cornsilk. Armin would see himself later, caught in the reflective surface of a steel bowl filled with a nourishing broth, and he'd feel grateful that his friends had left and any other visitors were being held off for another day. Right now, he felt as though he could've sprouted horns and wings while in the red bloom of labour, and he wouldn't have given a single fuck. All he cared about was this baby in his arms, his baby, and the overwhelming sense that should a titan come for Wall Rose now, he'd take it on himself to save his son.

When a nurse made a check-in a few minutes later, she saw Armin with dark circles under his eyes, but she also saw the serene smile of a man who had lost everything in hell only to find it again in paradise. This was a man, she decided, who would make an excellent father- alpha or no alpha.

-

Here was the problem:

There was an alpha, a dead alpha, and the evidence had already been presented before the court as soon as Armin's rescue squad had brought him back home. Reiner's severed head had been whisked away for tests, but Armin was confident that they'd find almost nothing new. He'd felt it grow cold next to him, saw that there was no steam to be spoken of, and he knew that there would be no body to join the tattered remains of Reiner's throat- where he'd spent... where he'd spent so long, slicing through the flesh and muscle and sinew, while all the while Reiner looked at him with clouded tawny eyes.

Reiner Braun was dead. The Armored Titan could no longer threaten humanity.

But now he had a son.

"It's disgusting," Eren hissed at Erwin, voice low as they marched through the stone halls of a building in Sina, hurrying from one room to the next so they could be bombarded with questions from government officials and concerned members of the scientific community. The damn wallists were even starting to get in on this, wafting through the place like ghosts in dark robes while all the while giving Eren the look of people who knew when the apocalypse would come. "It's a baby. He's just a little baby, Commander- you've seen him."

"I have," Erwin agreed, and he'd never forget. He and Armin had grown closer after his rescue, and though he didn't know if he could ever love someone the way he'd loved Levi, he'd happily take Armin on as the son he'd never gotten the chance to have. He'd spent hours upon hours at his side through the last couple months of his pregnancy, filling in the spot his mate and Sasha had left vacant, and then he'd come back to meet the child after he'd been brought into the world. Erwin had congratulated Armin. He'd praised him, telling him that he'd done well, that the baby was perfect, and then he'd cried when the sweet little thing tried to grip at one of his fingers. Reagan couldn't quite fit his own hand around it, but he'd tried his hardest, which only made it that much harder when Armin informed Erwin of the baby's middle name. 

He'd thought he'd done his grieving for his mate, but apparently, there were still tears left to shed.

"So you know, then. He's totally normal, not one-"

"We can't know that," Erwin said smoothly, though he was constantly trying to get the hairs on the back of his neck to lie flat. He had to be professional, here. If anyone dared to try and take that baby, he'd put them at the front of the formation on their next expedition, tied to a spit with an apple in their mouth. "They don't know it, either. You didn't even know of your own abilities until it came to a life or death situation."

Eren looked incensed. "He's a fucking baby! He doesn't even need to know about life or death situations!"

"Given who his parents are, he'll have to learn fast." Erwin didn't have time to be arguing with Eren about morals, right now. He had to find a way to keep the courts satisfied until they could come up with a better plan.

"You would've made a fucking terrible father," Eren spat.

Erwin froze. His hand lay uncertainly over the handle to the next room they were due to meet in, as though the action of turning it would be strong enough to break this new wave of hollow realization that bore into him, like  a stone dropping into a deep well. "Yes," he said, blinking twice as Levi's face flashed across his vision, lips pulled down agreement with Eren. "Yes, I would have."

-

Armin held his child to him, his lips pressed softly to the fine curls laying in blond wisps over his son's head, rocking gently back and forth in a chair that had been provided to him in the hospital. He liked the staff here, and appreciated their kindness, but he had to get out soon. He had to go find a new home to live in, and start raising Reagan in a place that would be much more nurturing, without the occasional check-up by doctors specifically hired by the king in order to ensure Armin still wasn't in any state to go running away. He was getting stronger every day, if only fuelled by his determination to be strong for his son, but he wouldn't be doing anything other than resting for a long while yet.

If they decided to come for Reagan, and steal the baby from his arms, he didn't know how long he'd be able to fight them off.

The omega shuddered, shaking his head. No, no. That wasn't going to happen. The Military Police would have to keep some kind of semblance of humane, and bursting in to steal  a newborn from a half-dead omega wouldn't be the way to do it, even with the other father to consider. Armin wasn't on any list of suspicion, since he had personally delivered the head of the Armored Titan's shifter into the waiting hands of scientists from Sina, so he would have a little more time. A little more time to think. A little more time that he didn't need, because he'd known exactly what he'd have to do from the moment he realized Reiner's other identity- the one that wasn't the warrior or the lover or the soldier or whoever. The titan.

He'd asked to have a sharp knife to slice his bread with, that morning. A nurse was supposed to pick it up on her way to bring him his lunch, so he'd waited until just before her visiting time to perform his task, as quickly as he could manage before getting help.

Armin heard footsteps echoing down the corridor, and a sweet hum that reminded him of his mother, back when she was alive to roam their house and sing such cheerful tunes. He'd sung a few to Reagan just last night, smiling when the baby snuffled and stuck his fingers in that tiny mouth as he looked at Armin like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Babies did have poor vision, he supposed, but he liked to think that his face would be the first that Reagan recognized. His eyes were a flat, thunderhead blue at the moment, but they'd change when he was around six months old, and keep changing until he was maybe three years old. It was anyone's guess if they'd stay blue, or turn tawny gold.

He remembered those eyes, those blank yellowish eyes staring at him. He remembered how they'd shook when Reiner's head jostled, loosened from its place on the man's shoulders, but not quite set free. He remembered how they'd become glossy with tears at first, but Reiner hadn't moved to get away from him. He remembered seeing the pain, the sadness, the love, the relief.

He remembered the blood, and he felt it now. He felt it, warm on his fingers, and the baby in his arms looked almost comically shocked before bursting into high screams that cracked in the middle, exactly like Armin's. When the omega finished slicing the smallest toe off, he held it in his hand, then moved the blanket around to stop the bleeding as the nurse came crashing in, his lunch left all over the floor out in the hall.

Armin cried as they took Reagan from him, but he kept the toe. He left it on a little dish normally meant to hold pills, and then put his hands up to his face to hide his pain while doctors and nurses flitted around him, rushing Reagan away to get attention for his foot and trying to see if Armin needed to be restrained.

He didn't. He was perfectly calm later, when one of the king's doctors came in, demanding to know what the hell Armin was trying to pull.

"You see that, over there?" the blond murmured, very very softly. He jerked his head toward the severed toe. "I removed the whole thing. Tell me, sir- has it grown back?"

The doctor blanched, looking like he was going to be sick. "No," he said finally. "No sign of regeneration."

Armin managed a small twitch of a smile. "No sign of a titan shifter, then."

He had Reagan back in his arms by the end of the next day. The baby wasn't scared of him, and even cooed happily when he saw that blur of blond hair and those tired, yet still triumphant blue eyes. Armin held him close and sighed over him, making sure he was fed before nuzzling his baby's sweet little face, allowing his own to be patted with tiny fingers. Reagan's foot was completely bandaged, likely because the wound itself was too small for stitches. He'd be alright- just a little clumsy, when he first started walking. And he would walk freely, because of the report given by that king's doctor- the one describing the omega's unwavering dedication to the human race, even at the cost of his mate and son.

Armin Arlert was spoken of in hushed tones, from then on. He was a hero in some circles, and an absolute monster in others. The only thing anyone seemed to agree on was that somewhere along the way, he'd made the transition from a bullied little boy to a hard-edged soldier-

And they said he was like Levi.


	2. Armin the Wizard King

Reagan was three-and-a-half years old. Armin wasn't quite sure when he'd started to measure the passage of time according to how his son was growing, but the little boy was basically the center of his universe at this point, so what was one more detail to add to the importance of his child? Reagan was three-and-a-half years old, sporting shoulder-length blond curls, and his eyes were just starting to change into the golden hazel he'd have for the rest of his life. Armin couldn't be more proud of him, even if the most he did was stumble awkwardly around and continuously point out the obvious- everything Reagan said, everything he pointed to, everything he even shrugged at- that was all Armin cared about.

It was starting to get a little ridiculous, really.

Armin had changed since leaving the hospital after Reagan's birth. He'd had to cut his own locks off once he realized that no, Reagan's habit of pulling hair wasn't just a one month thing, and yes, Armin's hair was his favourite thing to pull. It was the first time he could remember having it cropped short, but he'd kept the bangs, so it was easy enough to get used to. Eren had stared at him after Mikasa had decided that the cut was finished, and continued to stare for another two days before Armin gently told him to get over it, and then the glances started to become a little more few and far between. He was nineteen, now- going on twenty. Eren and Mikasa were already ahead of him, and they promised that getting older wasn't such a big deal as everyone made it out to be, but with a toddler at home and no mate to help him, he started to feel twice his age in the evenings. Christa had offered her help when she could, but once the plan to strike the monarchy at its core had been put into place, she'd been rather unavailable.

Armin spent a lot of his time at home. He had Reagan to look after, so going out on missions with the rest of the Corps was completely out of the question. Eren had confided in him, when Mikasa wasn't listening, that he now understood his own mother's reaction to the news that Eren wanted to go outside the walls- it was bad enough to think of losing Armin out there before, but with Reagan to think about, the idea of him growing up without a parent made him sick to his stomach. Armin couldn't help but agree, so he stayed back whenever his fellow soldiers went out, and kept his son on his shoulders to wave them off whenever the gates were lifted. Occasionally, he'd be asked to contribute to a plan or two, but for the most part the Recon Corps let him be, paying him a regular wage even on the weeks he didn't even see a hair of one of his colleagues. Everyone from the 104th squad offered money when they could, claiming they wouldn't need it outside the walls, and brought Reagan oddly-coloured rocks or abandoned toys (Connie had brought him a rabbit, once, whom Reagan had named Peter before Armin could find the heart to tell him that it was a female rabbit) whenever they came to visit. They told Armin about the expeditions, omitting some of the more terrible details whenever Reagan was around to listen, and said they couldn't wait to have him back.

Sometimes he'd see his son colouring a picture of two scribbles with yellow hair, with a big blue sky and no walls in sight, and he'd decide he could wait a little longer before giving himself back over to the service.

Surprisingly enough, it was Erwin who ended up being his most frequent visitor. He'd handed the reigns over to Hanji some months ago, and was now enjoying what looked like a quiet retirement. He'd tried and failed (several times) to pull of a moustache, went fishing a few times, tried his hand at painting, found that he was better suited for charcoal sketches, and had now established himself as a kind of surrogate grandfather for Reagan. Armin didn't know what to make of this, at first. Apparently, the former commander had talked with Eren about something, and whatever it was had triggered this kind of response in the older man. Even Eren didn't really know what he'd said to make it happen, but when Armin caught Erwin on the floor with Reagan pretending to be an officer trying to arrest him, he decided that he was fine with not knowing. Erwin laughed a lot during these visits- a sound that was full, and left the room warm- and Armin thought that it was because it made him feel a little less lonely.

Today, Reagan was a dragon. Armin had told him about dragons at bedtime one evening, and he'd noticed that Reagan had looked intrigued, but he hadn't realized that he'd set off an obsession with the winged beasts. Reagan was a dragon at least five days out of the week, and he loved to run around the house (which was easy, considering it was so small) and call it his castle, with Armin serving as the king that needed his protection. Jean had tried to tell Reagan that a role like that would make Armin a princess, but he'd earned a glare so sharp one would swear that Eren had taught it to him, and that had been the end of that.

"What colour are your wings?" Armin asked, sitting cross-legged on the floor as Reagan walked around him, still upset that his father wouldn't let him put a moat in the living room. He did patrols on foot instead.

The boy roared and huffed, flaring out his nostrils as he continued his rounds. "Blue 'n- 'n white, Dad! You can see 'em!"

"They're magic wings!" Armin insisted, quite convincingly. He made a mental note of that- blue and white, like the Wings of Freedom- and figured he'd go pick up the fabric at the market next week. He could probably shape some sticks to act as support for the arches, or maybe wire. They'd make a nice present for Reagan, when he was done. "I can't see them yet, Ray. I'm not magic enough."

Armin called Reagan his 'little Ray of sunshine'. It fit, what with the golden hair and eyes and whatnot, but also because his baby really had been a beam of light in the darkness all those years ago- the warmth he needed to feel alive again. 

Reagan looked absolutely scandalized. "You- you have to be magic! You got to- have to," he corrected, and again, Armin felt a little thrill of pride. His boy was so smart. "You're a king wizard!"

"I lost my powers," Armin said with a pout, crossing his arms. He heard Erwin snort from across the room. The alpha had his nose in Armin's grandfather's old book, something that his grandpa had stuffed into the seat of his pants on the boats that took them into Wall Rose after Wall Maria fell. It was the only thing he had left of him, other than his frayed old hat. Erwin just couldn't stop looking at the pictures of the water, the rivers of fire, lands made out of ice. An unfinished sketch was on the table, awaiting Armin's critique. "I can't see your wings, Ray. Maybe when I get my magic back."

"Are you sick?" Reagan whispered, looking grave. "Dad- Dad, did... d'someone steal them? Do I have't fight them?"

Armin bit his lip to keep from smiling. "Give it a little time. They'll come back when they're ready."

"When Aunt Mi comes back?"

Reagan adored his Aunt Mikasa. She was probably the person he loved most in the world, other than Armin and Erwin. He didn't really care much for Eren and Jean, despite their best efforts to bond with him. The young alpha actually got a little hostile whenever they got too close to Armin, especially when it came to Eren. Armin had told his friend not to take it too hard, since Reagan reminded him of another little alpha he'd known, but Eren's feelings were already hurt. Jean was still determined to be Reagan's best friend, though. 

"Maybe," Armin hummed, reaching out to grab Reagan's hand. He kissed his song's fingers, then his palm, then drew him closer to press loud smooches all over the little boy's cheeks. "What, am I not good enough for you? What's that supposed to mean, huh?"

The toddler squealed, grinning from ear to ear in a way that reminded Armin painfully of Reiner, but out of sheer luck Reagan didn't look much at all like his father. Not yet, anyway. "Nononono!" His second word, after 'Dad'. "I didn't mean it!"

"Yeeees, you did!" Armin was ruthless, laying kiss after kiss over Reagan's face. "You hurt my feelings! You'd better say-" smooch "-you're-" mwah "-sorry!" One nice long smooch, all wet and audible and perfect.

Reagan scrubbed his dad's spit away from his cheeks with his fists, still giggling like a fool. "'m sorry! I love you!"

The omega brought his baby in for a hug, kissing the top of Reagan's head one last time for good measure. "Yeah, you do. Don't you forget it!"

"You'd think you're both children," Erwin said fondly from the couch, closing the book with his thumb still jammed between pages about areas where the sand stretched forever. 

"Is that so? Who was the wicked wizard torturing the poor residents of Carrot City, yesterday?" Armin really did have a hard time telling Reagan not to play with his food. Erwin didn't help.

The alpha just smiled at him, flashing his teeth. Armin snorted, waving his hand in his direction while pretending to look fed up with him. He actually spent a lot of time thanking whatever god had decided to watch over him that Erwin was there, toughing out the memories of Levi in order to help Armin raise his son. He saw the wistful looks sometimes, and felt bad for encouraging Levi to put off trying for children before that mission- but what was done was done. No one could change the past, no matter how many times Armin had cried over wishing he could.

But he would never, ever wish that he hadn't had Reagan.

Reagan kindly reminded him of this when he put his palm against Armin's nose, accidentally jamming a thumb up his left nostril and causing his father to sneeze so hard he actually bounced a little, smothering a curse when his ass touched the floor again. Erwin roared laughter, and Reagan joined in with him after the initial shock. 

Armin made sure to tip extra carrots onto both of their plates, that night.

When Reagan had been put to bed after his nightly story, Armin sat on the couch with Erwin, refusing his own wine while the alpha poured himself a shallow glass. Erwin swirled it in his palm, sniffing once before tipping it back against his lips, only the barest amount actually making it past his teeth.

"You might as well take the bottle home with you," Armin said. He'd only gotten it because Jean had decided he needed a housewarming gift, and where he was from, wine was a must have in every home. "I won't drink it."

"I'm here often enough that it could stand to stay," Erwin responded softly, and Armin nodded. There wasn't any arguing with the truth. "Are you still thinking about school?"

"I still want to teach him from home," the smaller of the two sighed, smearing a hand over his face. He had dark circles under his eyes when he wasn't smiling. At least he wasn't as thin as he used to be, thanks to Erwin and the Survey Corps helping keep his little family afloat. "They'd tear him apart out there, I know it. No one wants to hear that it all happened before he was born. They all think he shouldn't have been."

"Have people told you this?" Erwin wondered, tipping more wine back into his mouth.

Armin shook his head. "They don't need to. I see it, when I pass them. I don't even need to have Reagan with me and they still manage to give me that look, like it's all my fault." He snorted. "Apparently, giving them his head wasn't enough justice. Not that I can really blame them. He took more than what his life was worth."

"You didn't know that when you slept with him," Erwin said, placing his free hand on Armin's shoulder. "You did what you could, and it saved your life, as well as Reagan's. A lot of people- a lot of soldiers, even- they could never do what you did. Everyone knows that."

"They think I'm heartless," Armin moaned, burying his face in his hands. "Reagan can never wear sandals. Everyone would judge."

"I think you have more than enough trained fighters to keep them in line," Erwin murmured, rubbing Armin's shoulder and the very base of the young man's neck. Only nineteen, and already a single father. It must have been so hard on him. "Not to mention two very protective titans." Ymir's secret had come out not long after Reiner's death, and Hanji had just about gone to pieces over it. Eren still wasn't quite comfortable with it, but the more shifters dedicated to saving humanity (even if Ymir was just in it for Christa), the better. "Reagan can wear all the sandals he wants."

"He doesn't even like sandals."

"Well there, see? What are you even worrying about?"

Armin barked a laugh, pushing his bangs back into his short hair. He thought he might let it grow back out, soon. Reagan was learning quickly that pulling Dad's hair- or anyone's, for that matter- didn't lead to anything good. "I don't know. I've been in the house for too long."

"I'll watch him, if you want to go somewhere," Erwin offered. "Take a walk. Have a day to yourself."

"He needs me."

"If he's anything like you, he'll be just fine on his own."

Armin frowned at him- a terribly sad expression. "I think you're confusing me with Levi, again."

Erwin took a deep breath through his nose, shaking his head. "Not quite that old, yet."

Armin's lips twitched. "Why else would you be so good to us, then? You've done more than anyone else would, and before Reagan was born, you'd barely even look at me. I know what you're thinking of, when you play with him. I know what you're thinking of when you stay up half the night with me." Erwin didn't seem romantically interested in him, but Armin knew that his former commander saw more than just a blond little boy with a protective omegan father. He saw what he could've had, what he was supposed to have had after the titans had been wiped out, and what he never would have. 

Erwin didn't even try to deny it. "It's true. That's all it was, at first," he admitted, but Armin's feelings weren't hurt. He kind of used Erwin in the same way- as a substitute for the mate he'd killed. "But it's different, now. I really do care for the both of you, and it's not because I'm projecting my daydreams on you." His blue, blue eyes bored into Armin's, still in that habit that used to bring grown men to their knees, ready to offer their hearts to him and die at his command- though he'd only ever accepted one. "I'll take care of him when you need me to, Armin. I love the both of you."

The omega swallowed thickly, feeling his smile grow wider for a moment. "We love you, too. And I'll think about it," he promised, rising to his feet before stretching his arms over his head. He yawned, shook himself out, and looked down at Erwin with heavy eyes. "After I sleep. I spent all morning trying to dig out that garden."

Erwin smiled softly back at him, finishing the rest of his wine in a gulp before also rising from the couch. "More citizens for our fair Carrot City?"

"Carrot City is dead," Armin snorted. "You ate it, and it won't come back again. And don't," he warned, "make a shit joke."

Erwin smiled so wide that his teeth could be seen, neat and white and perfect- a rarity in these times. "I wasn't going to."

"You were, and we both know it." Armin swatted him on the chest, marvelling for a moment that he actually felt comfortable enough to do that, now. "Go take the guest room. I think you're drunk."

"I only had one glass," Erwin said, but he started down the hallway with Armin anyway, knowing that the bed was already made for him. "When Reagan's old enough to watch himself, I'll show you how to get drunk. Levi turned it into an art form."

"Joy," Armin muttered, lips pursed as he tried not to grin. "Goodnight, Erwin."

"Goodnight, Armin."

-

Two weeks later, Reagan was a dragon again. Armin could see his wings, now- blue and white, made lovingly by his own hands and strapped to his son's back with pieces of an old harness that Erwin had found for him. Mikasa had taken to picking the little boy up and 'flying' him around- laughing in a way she hadn't since before her parents had been slaughtered. Eren tried it and ended up getting his hair pulled, so Armin had to lean up and kiss it better for him, which Reagan was not happy about. For now, they would be alright.


	3. Hold On Till May

Armin didn't like to remember much about getting drunk when Reagan was eight, but he remembered it. Despite what others would claim, it was easy enough to remember what you did and what you said even when you thought you were blacked-out drunk, especially when you were stuck nursing the same cheap bear that the Garrison liked to indulge in, simply because it was the first thing Armin had found that didn't go beyond his budget that mostly revolved around giving Reagan a good head's start if something ever happened to him.

Back then, he was just a few weeks shy of going back into the field. There was a very good chance that something could happen to him.

Erwin had retired, at this point. He'd claimed that it was because he was older than he looked, and it was just getting harder and harder to get out of his bed every morning, but Armin thought it might be because he'd realized he wasn't thinking like he used to. His plans got riskier for less, and he was more prone to spur-of-the-moment decisions, completely throwing their months of training to waste because he was second guessing the plan they'd gone over while still in Wall Rose. He doubted himself too much to be a leader, so he passed the reins on to Hanji, who rose to the challenge of leadership spectacularly. They still swung by Erwin's home every now and then, and loved to get Armin's opinion on a new formation (and there were many new formations- Hanji like to experiment), but for the most part, they were managing to guide the Survey Corps in their own stride. Armin was so proud of them, even if they were a few years older than him. He knew that Erwin was proud, too.

That being said, Armin thought that Erwin was adapting to a home life quite well. He kept the place clean, visited the Arlert household often, played with Reagan, went home, made his own dinner, went to bed, and did it all over again. Sometimes he worried that Erwin wasn't being kept busy enough, but ever since an accident while out on a mission had taken his arm, he'd been overcoming his new disability to try garden work, and strengthen his drawing skills with his left hand. It was going terribly, but Armin had about three original Erwin Smith's in his own home, and Reagan sometimes offered his assistance by making big, messy handprints in smudged charcoal waves. Erwin insisted that he didn't mind, which was another reason Armin felt comfortable with leaving his son in his former commander's care. They got along like real family, and it was healthy for Reagan to have that kind of relationship with someone. Armin couldn't count the number of times he'd felt concern that Reagan was missing the father he'd never known, but the boy always seemed content to just cuddle up with him and a book every night, growing and learning fast enough to read complex fairytales to Armin by the time he was four.

He already missed his baby terribly, but he knew that without some kind of catharsis, he wouldn't be in any shape to rejoin his squad. For the past eight years, he'd been bottling it all up as best as he could, not wanting Reagan to grow up with a father that was constantly in shambles from the terrible things he'd seen and done. He would close his eyes and see Reiner staring back at him, would see the flash of that borrowed gold ring, and he'd see the light's twin in the blade he'd used to decapitate his mate, the father of his then unborn child. He had to let it go. He had to flush it out, and he just couldn't do it with Reagan in the house.

The alcohol would help. It wasn't the healthiest option, but he'd been so emotionally constipated for the past few years that he'd need something to get the process going, and a loose tongue wouldn't hurt him if he was alone in his own home. Reagan wouldn't see. Reagan wouldn't know.

He kissed his little boy's forehead, standing warm in the golden light coming from Erwin's open door. The alpha watched the tiny Arlert family with interest, noticing the reluctance with which Armin moved, and he could understand. The omega didn't even like dropping his son off at school for the day, so leaving him at Erwin's for the night would be a major step for him. He could tell Armin had something planned. He didn't dare ask, out of common decency and fearing that Reagan would begin to suspect something was amiss (bright boy, just like his omegan father), but he gave Armin a look that plainly said that he knew this wasn't just a friendly overnight stay just for Reagan's amusement. This was something bigger, something secret, and Erwin reminded himself to have someone swing by the house to make sure Armin was quite alright sometime that evening.

Nothing to panic about. Just a learned caution, from all of those years spent fighting titans.

"Dad?" 

"Mm?" Armin hummed, brushing Reagan's curls back from his face. They'd need a trim, soon- the boy preferred to keep them about as long as Armin used to keep his, when he was around his age. The omega kept it longer now; swept back into a half-ponytail that might evolve into a full-on one when he was back to using the 3DMG. 

Reagan watched him with big, dark gold eyes. Reiner's eyes. "You're coming for breakfast, right? Erwin can't cook."

The alpha snorted, looking down at the youngest with a slightly offended expression. "Excuse me?"

"Well you can't," Reagan said simply, smiling sheepishly when Erwin rolled his eyes. "I'm just being honest."

Armin's lips quirked up in a little smile, and he nodded his promise, offering Erwin a consoling pat on the shoulder when he rose to his full height- which really wasn't much. He hadn't even grown a full inch since he was fifteen. "I'll come make you pancakes, alright? You just make sure you have fun. And be _nice_ , not honest."

"Thanks," Erwin muttered, giving Armin a little squeeze on the shoulder before letting Reagan into his home. The boy immediately went on a puzzle they'd been working on together- a hand painted thing that was bound to give someone a migraine just from looking at all of the colours jumbled together. "I'll take care of him. You just take care of yourself."

Armin smiled at him. It felt a little wooden at the corners, but it would do, now that Reagan was distracted. "I'm a grown man, you know. I'll be fine."

"Don't do something permanent," Erwin called after him, but Armin was already waving at him from over his shoulder, stepping lightly down the stairs with a little bounce in each step. He was still so small that the wind seemed to carry him, chasing at his heels like a puppy thirsting for attention, pushing at the backs of his knees and the base of his spine and the feathery ends of his hair. He looked terribly young, too young for someone with a child who was turning nine in a few months, and too young for someone who would put his life in danger every day for the foreseeable future.

Erwin was suddenly very, very glad that he'd retired. He didn't know how he'd ever face Reagan if he'd turned out to be the commander that put Armin to death. Shaking his head, he ducked back inside, ready to tackle that puzzle and maybe work out some kind of compromise on dinner. Maybe he couldn't make pancakes, but he could certainly cook up a mean roast.

At home, Armin tasted. He gulped, felt the fire at the back of his throat, and felt nothing. He felt nothing, felt nothing, tasted more fire, felt nothing-

And then-

And then he felt everything.

-

Eren didn't need Erwin's suggestion to go check on Armin. He checked on his friend plenty, all on his own, sometimes without Mikasa to keep the peace between him and Reagan. It wasn't that he hated Armin's son, but the way he smiled was not Armin's smile, and it left him with a chill in his bones to think that somehow, some part of Reiner had survived. He wanted to get along with Reagan, he really did, but the past liked to creep up on him, and the boy didn't really like him near Armin anyway. His father insisted that it was some kind of alpha rivalry thing, but Reagan was perfectly fine with Mikasa and Erwin around Armin, so that argument couldn't hold water. Reagan just seemed to hate him from birth, and it looked like that would be the way it stayed.

He still brought him stuff from the outside, though. Eren supposed Armin would take over that, once he was cleared for active duty once more. Armin had started exercising again about a year ago, and 3DMG training would start next week. There was a lot to catch up on, a lot to relearn, but Eren knew that his friend could hit the ground running. He had to.

The Arlert house always looked comfortable to him, even from the outside. It was old, already well-loved and worn by the time Armin moved in with Reagan, and small enough to fit the both of them and a guest. It looked more like a cottage than a house, which was just so inexplicably Armin that Eren still couldn't get over their luck when the family who'd previously owned it just handed it over, supporters of Armin's desperate bloodshed all those years ago and happy to lend a hand to the boy who had slain the Armored Titan. Eren found out later that they'd actually been refugees from Wall Maria once upon a time, and had struck it rich through a clothing business that had creeped into Wall Sina through complicated stitching and unbelievably fine materials (a family secret that they were quite unwilling to share). He'd thanked them profusely, held Armin to him while the other boy fought back tears, and promised that this was the start of his luck turning around.

When he opened the door and saw that Armin was at the kitchen table, he immediately also saw couple of bottles of beer settled next to the omega, as casually as if Armin had been a drinker all his life. As far as Eren knew, Armin had never had any alcohol beyond a few curious sips as a child, and even then he'd claimed that it was the most revolting thing he'd ever tasted in his life, and he'd never make that mistake again. Eren counted two empty bottles, while a third was currently being pressed against the omega's lips, though his throat was still. He wasn't drinking; just sitting there, lips pressed to the neck, staring down at the table even as Eren approached him.

This was very, very wrong.

"Armin?" Eren murmured, soft. He didn't want to break Armin out of this- whatever he was in, too suddenly. That might startle him, and either cause an accident or trigger some kind of heavy response. A drunk Armin was a new Armin, someone that Eren had no clue how to interact with, and that scared him more than anything beyond the walls ever could. Not knowing Armin was one of his worst nightmares. 

The blond didn't turn toward him, but he set the bottle down. "I should get my money back." 

Eren paused, listening for a slur in Armin's voice, or at least some kind of hint as to how intoxicated he actually was. Armin's voice was as clear as ever- soft on the 's's, a light kiss on the 'm's, perfect pronunciation. He eyed the bottles on the table again, confirmed that they were indeed empty, and wondered if Armin had just been pouring them down the sink. "I don't think you can," he said slowly, coming around now, trying to get a look at his friend's face. "How do you feel?"

He saw Armin's lips curl. His eyes were partly hidden by his bangs. "Wasted. Apparently, I can't get a buzz. I don't feel like dancing, or making rude jokes, or even making an ass out of myself in front of the general public. I was lied to."

Eren had to disagree. Even in that crisp tone, he was starting to recognize what a drunk Armin sounded like: sarcastic. "It won't hold in court."

"I don't need it to," Armin scoffed, lifting the bottle back up and taking a swig. Eren saw that the movement was very precise. "The court hasn't done much for me, anyway. What makes you think they'll start now?"

"Nothing. I never said that." The alpha watched Armin drink again, then pulled up a chair next to him, still watching. Armin nudged the last unopened bottle toward him in an offer, but Eren had to decline. He wanted to see for himself where this would go. 

Armin licked his lips, his breath wafting over the table and hitting Eren in the face like a coarse, heavy-handed slap. "Mm. Maybe you should say more things, Eren. I feel like I never stop talking."

Eren felt a little bad, but he wished Armin would stop, because beer breath really wasn't all that becoming of him. "Have you... been talking?"

Armin gave him a look so clearly deadpan that Eren had to check the air again, making sure that the smell of alcohol was actually coming from Armin, because there was no way someone could be that drunk without even showing it. "Do you see anyone I would be talking to?"

Excuse the fuck out of him. "Look, Armin, I don't know what you're doing in here-"

"I thought it was obvious," Armin said, frowning down at his beer like it had said something offensive about the way he arranged his livingroom. "This isn't exactly milk and honey."

"- This isn't like you," Eren finished, feeling his ears burn a little. He didn't like drunk Armin, he decided, and now he had to work on getting him to bed so sober Armin could pick up the pieces in the morning. "Leaving Reagan at Erwin's house so you could drink? Come on. That's shit parenting, and you know it."

"I didn't really have a stunning example to follow, did I? My parents left me at my grandfather's house to go die." Suddenly, Eren could see Armin's eyes very clearly, and they were blue fire under a glossy sheen. Ah. Now he looked drunk. "I didn't leave him to go party, Eren. I wanted him to be somewhere else while I tried to cry."

"Why the hell would you do that?" Eren asked, confused and concerned. This was so, so wrong.

"Because I need to cry, Eren!" Armin's hand slammed down on the table, lighter than Eren had thought that it would, and he shifted forward, pouring foul breath into Eren's nose and mouth while those wild blue eyes bored into him. "I need to get it the fuck out, okay?! It's stuck in me like some kind of tumour. I can feel it, I know it's not supposed to be there, and I know exactly what the cure is, but god dammit- I just. I need a good, long cry. I just can't get it out."

In that moment, Armin looked so helpless that the response that jumped to Eren's lips but didn't quite make it out was 'I'll make you cry'. That sounded wrong, but his intentions were good. He didn't really understand, since he'd always been able to cry if he needed to, and more often than not he vented his feelings through rage, but he could be a good friend. If Armin needed something, if he thought it would make him feel better, he'd help. "Okay, okay," he soothed, reaching out to cover the hand that Armin had brought down on the table with his own. It was very small, very pale, and very warm. Eren squeezed it, offering his comfort. "Tell me. Talk to me about it."

"It's killing me," Armin whispered. "I should be dead."

Eren didn't know what he was supposed to say to that, so Armin continued on while the alpha stayed silent.

"I keep thinking about Reiner, and what happened before I- before I knew." His voice was dry, but his eyes were wet. "Annie, in her titan form- she threw me around, before I got pregnant. Just before. The stress from that triggered my heat, and Reiner was there, and nine months later, so was Reagan. God, it was a long nine months. It feels like it should have been years- anyway. You know I lost one twin, and I thought that I would die right there, trying to give birth to something that wasn't even a baby yet, but here I am." His lips pulled up in a hollow smile at Eren. "It's not exactly a victory, considering everything else that happened, but I'm still here. I lost that baby, thought I was going to die, and then they told me there was still one more. I was- I was so happy, Eren. I wanted that baby so bad. And Reiner, he wanted them too- he always said that he was just glad that I was okay, but I know he wanted the baby more than anything."

Eren saw Armin's hand move to put the bottle to his lips again, and without thinking, he reached out. He used his free hand to guide the bottle back to the table, nodding to get Armin to continue the story that he really didn't want to hear.

Armin's smile was just a touch more genuine. "Mm. Anyway, the baby. I was so scared I'd lose that one, too. I felt like my body was some twisted deathtrap, like there was something physically wrong with me, and like I should have known, because my heats have always been so painful. I told Reiner that I wouldn't be surprised if they found something wrong with me, biologically, in that area- but now I'm kind of wondering if I lost the baby because it tried to shift. I wondered about it back then, too, but it wasn't easy to think about. Imagine me just sitting there, and then all of a sudden, a titan comes out of my belly."

"I don't want to," Eren said flatly, but he nodded for Armin to keep going. Armin not-entirely-happily complied.

"It's not important, anyway. Do you think that since Reagan isn't a shifter, the other one wasn't? It's hard to tell. Unless you or Ymir decide to have children, and they turn out to be twins, we might never know. The ability might not even be able to be passed on through breeding, anyway. I know Hanji's been dying to figure that one out. But anyway, Reagan almost killed me too, during the delivery. The doctors told me I must have some kind of guardian angel, since they didn't think that I'd ever make it, based on the way I looked." Armin smiled dryly. "I have more possible angels than I can count. Whatever it was, I lived, but I still wished that I hadn't. I wanted to be strong for Reagan, and be there for him, but it gets harder than you'd ever know, Eren. Sometimes I lay in bed and I think about cutting Reiner's head off, but it was more like hacking it off, and then ripping. Reagan's toe was easier, since he was so little, but I still have nightmares about it. I think about what would have happened if I'd just called it quits and put us both out of our misery that day, so we wouldn't have to deal with what we deal with now. Do you know how many bullies I've chased off? Do you know how many parents I've snapped at, strangers on the streets, and sometimes even our fellow soldiers?"

Eren didn't know. He knew, of course, that stories about Armin's temper would trickle down- the tiniest comment about Reagan and his origins seemed to set him off- but he really couldn't blame his friend. He'd been that way once, almost foaming at the mouth at the mention of titans, but this was a young single father and his young innocent kid. Sometimes Eren felt like knocking a few heads himself, just to give those two a break. 

"They think I'm crazy," Armin murmured, smearing his hands over his face with a tired sigh. "I feel crazy."

"You're not-," Eren tried, but Armin cut him off, shaking his head as a hefty sniffle came from beneath those small, dove white hands.

"I cut off my mate's head with a kitchen knife," Armin said, his voice slightly garbled and thick with the oncoming tears. "And then I sliced off my newborn's toe. How could someone not be crazy after that? While doing that?"

The alpha bit his lip, trying to reach for Armin's hand so he could see his face, like a parent trying to see a scrape on their child's knee. Armin wouldn't have it, though, and actually growled at him for it- this little sound at the back of his throat; not an alpha's ripping thunder, but the sound of a threatened omega. Eren immediately withdrew his hand.

"She should've killed me," Armin whimpered. "I should've killed myself. Given Reagan to Erwin-"

"Hey," Eren said sharply, sitting up a little straighter in his chair. "Hey, wait a minute-"

"Shut up, Eren." The blond sighed, wiping tears from his eyes. To Eren's horror, he got up on unsteady feet, bracing himself against the table with his hands. He caught his breath, hair hanging in his face, then started to move again. Toward the cutlery drawers. "I'll just do it now. Better than getting eaten by a titan."

"Hey!" Alright, now Eren couldn't just sit still. He jumped up, grabbing Armin from behind and earning an outraged squawk, and started to drag the younger male back, as far away from the knife drawer as he possibly could. Armin fought him the whole way, surprisingly strong given his one year of exercise, but he wasn't enough to fight Eren off, thank God. "Don't be a fucking idiot-"

"You're the idiot!" Armin yelled at him, kicking his feet into the air. Eren held steady, still in the kitchen but making swift progress toward the living room. "You're the suicidal bastard, remember?! Don't be a goddamn hypocrite-"

"Stop that!" Eren snarled at him, wrapping his arms tight around Armin's chest and biceps, straining to keep the omega still. "You just wanna leave Reagan? You want him to grow up without you?"

"He'd be better off!" Armin wailed, going limp in Eren's arms so suddenly that for a moment the alpha was stricken with horror, thinking that the stress had killed him, but Armin was still crying, and for once Eren was glad to hear it. "Look at what I did to him, look at what I did-"

Eren hugged him tighter, nosing into Armin's hair. He could feel tears of his own, hot and sticky over his cheeks, sliding onto the blond as he felt Armin break in his arms, finally getting that cry that he'd so desperately needed. "Shh," he soothed, mumbled, murmured for Armin to settle a little bit. "Shh, hey... I know. I know, but you'll both be okay."

Armin shook, slowly swinging his head back and forth at Eren's blind attempts to bandage the wound. "You don't know," he said, very quietly. "We can't be okay ever again. It's all my fault."

"It's not," Eren insisted, nosing at Armin's ear and breathing him in deep. He reeked of beer, but he also smelled alive, and he was warm against Eren's front, exactly as he should be. "If it's anyone's fault, it's Reiner's. He's gone, Armin. You stopped him from making it worse."

"He asked me to marry him," the omega said, wrapping his arms around Eren's where they held him, reaching out for that comfort supposedly only alphas could provide omegas. He'd done his self-loathing, and now he just wanted that part where he felt better about it, and where he'd feel the weight lifted from him. "I didn't- I didn't give him an answer. I just told him to hold still."

Eren buried his nose in the crook of Armin's neck. "I'm sorry."

"You're not."

"I'm sorry he hurt you."

"Turn me around."

Eren did. Armin moved slowly, shaking with each step until he could throw his arms around Eren's neck, gasping like he'd just broken the surface after a long, cold dive. He practically launched himself at his friend's chest, crying so hard that it actually ripped at his lungs, made him ache, but Eren just held him tighter and rubbed his back, letting Armin ruin his shirt while murmuring "I love you" into the blond's ear.

When Armin pulled Eren down to kiss him, Eren found that Armin's mouth was actually quite sweet.  

Armin fisted his hands in the front of Eren's jacket, creasing the fabric between his fingers while Eren grabbed at the back of his shirt, pulling slightly until he could settle burning hands against the small of Armin's back, searing hot against the bare skin. The blond whined for it, tugging at Eren's lower lip and earning a short growl, one that sent a warm shiver up both of their spines. Armin whimpered again, needy, so Eren gripped the smaller male's hips and turned him against the wall, lifting slightly until Armin could wrap his legs around his waist. The soft, wet sounds of kissing smacked through the house, loud in the silence of it even though they were gentle where their hands were not.

"Should've been you," Armin panted, hissing softly as Eren lightly dragged his nails over the flat planes of his back, his thumbs tracing over stretch marks on the pouch of Armin's stomach that just wouldn't go away. 

"You weren't in love with me," was all Eren had to say- or all he really could say, since there was so much more he wanted to say, but this was about Armin. He had to learn to stop being selfish.

Armin wound his legs tighter around Eren's waist, grinding their hips firmly together and laughing lightly when another growl from Eren rumbled between them. Eren's hair was longer now, almost like his titan's, making it easier for Armin to wind his fingers into. "What if I told you that I think I am, now?"

"I'd tell you you were drunk," Eren gruffed.

Armin kissed his jaw. "What if I said it in the morning?"

That made Eren pause. "You want me to stay the night?"

"I thought you were planning on it," Armin whispered. His eyes were still red, and swollen around the edges. The blues had never been brighter. 

"... Maybe I can stay," Eren decided, licking his lips. "I love you."

True to his word, Armin wouldn't say it back until dawn broke over the walls. He said it with his lips against Eren's bare shoulder, breath stale and absolutely dreadful, with a lock of hair in his mouth while a hangover thudded against the inside of his skull. They hadn't fucked the night before, which Armin was glad for, since he'd already exhausted himself with emotional outbursts without adding onto the frotting and making out that had landed them both in his bed. 

He found that impossible single father's strength when he remembered that Reagan had asked him to go over for pancakes, however, and ended up accidentally pushing Eren onto the floor in his haste to get up and see what time it was, earning a fit of swearing and a loud groan as his lover swore that he'd landed on his balls. So much for an "I love you, too".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "drabbles" i said  
> "maybe 600 words, just for fun" i said


	4. Pancakes

Even knowing he was just down the street, just hours away from seeing him again, Reagan couldn't help but miss his dad. He'd missed him from the moment he'd stepped foot in Erwin's house, while Armin was still on the front porch. He missed him while putting puzzles together, while reading some of Erwin's less confusing books, while eating that tough hunk of meat the former commander had tried to pass off as a roast, and while he was being put to bed with a glass of water to keep him company. At home, he'd probably crawl into Armin's bed at that point. He barely ever slept in his own room, too worried that something would happen to his father while he wasn't looking, and even the thought of all those terrible things that could happen to his dad while he spent the night home alone had him breaking out into a cold sweat. He tossed and turned for most of the night, tangling the blankets and crushing the cooler side of the pillow to his face, waiting for the sun to come up and for his dad to come get him. He loved Erwin, and he loved spending time at his house, but he hated leaving Armin's side.

Armin had told him it was because he was an alpha. By nature, he couldn't help but want to be there for the omegas he was close to, even if he wasn't close to them in a romantic sense. Armin had also told him that was why he got so angry around Eren and Jean sometimes, but Reagan was pretty sure he just didn't like them because they always looked like _they_ didn't like _him_. He'd heard Eren's voice at the door earlier, speaking in low murmurs with Erwin, and for the first time Reagan hoped that Eren was going to go check on his dad, just so Armin wouldn't have to be alone.

Reagan knew what had happened with Reiner, so of course he didn't like Armin being alone.

It hadn't been kept a secret from him. To do so would have been pointless, so right off the bat, when Reagan asked why he didn't have an alpha parent, Armin had to tell him. He'd cried while he described it, while he told the boy about where his middle name had come from and where his other father had gone, and why he didn't have that weird little toe on his right foot- the one that was apparently the reason he stumbled and fell a lot, off balance even while he was just standing still. Reagan had just watched him with big tawny eyes, horrified and beyond understanding the kind of pain that cracked his father's voice in those terrible moments. Back then, the only pain he actually knew of was the sting of a scraped knee or maybe the distant throb of a bruise from pretending to be a dragon. Armin would kiss all of these better, however, and then it didn't hurt so much, and soon enough he'd forget that he'd been hurt in the first place.

He'd tried to kiss his dad's hurt better, but he couldn't see where it hurt, so he'd gone for the cheek. By the way Armin cried, he'd feared that he'd missed the mark completely until the omega gripped him tight and shook, mumbling out apologies and telling Reagan he loved him over and over. Reagan didn't know why he was apologising- everything he'd done was to protect him, and who would be sorry for that?- but he just told his father that he loved him too, and always would.

They had each other to lean on, and that was all they needed. Eren and Jean tried to offer too much of the support Reagan was already giving, which put him on edge to the point where he couldn't help but let out a few choice bad words that a few of the soldiers had accidentally taught him, which made Armin mad but was totally worth it when he got to see the look on Jean's face. The future commander would rear back, affronted, and then turn to Armin and say something like "If I didn't know any better, I'd swear he was Levi's". That usually got him a smack, leaving Reagan in a very good mood for the rest of the day. Armin had shown that he could take care of and defend himself just fine, but Ray still liked to be there for him, just in case.

Couldn't have any more of those wizards (which he'd been told didn't really exist by Mikasa, but he was alright with that) going after his dad's magic powers.

Morning came, and Reagan was the first one up. Erwin still kept to a strict military-style routine, but Reagan always managed to get the jump on him, and especially now that he was waiting on Armn to show up. He raced down to the older alpha's room, hopping onto the bed in much the same way he'd jump on his father's- but this time he wouldn't actually aim to land on the sleeping occupant, because instead of groaning and playful attempts to push him away, Erwin would probably accidentally use his remaining arm to punch him through the wall. The guy was strong, and trained to react to have a hair trigger response. Reagan wouldn't make that same mistake twice.

The bed bounced slightly under the force of his leap, and had Erwin startling awake in an instant. He looked around, eyes half-closed but rapidly brightening. Upon finding Reagan, however, they grew weary again, and he fell back into a laying position with a tremendous WHUMP as the blankets resettled and the pillow sank beneath his head. "He won't be here for a while," the former commander groaned. He was still getting used to this sleeping in thing (even if it was just by five minutes), and he kind of liked it. "Go get another hour of sleep. You'll need it to grow."

Reagan didn't need anything to grow. The kid was sprouting like a weed, and despite all of Armin's prayers, it was obvious that he'd probably overtake his father in height in a few short years. "I already slept. You have to get up and get ready!"

"Armin has seen me in my pyjamas before," Erwin sighed, rolling over and pulling the blanket over his head. He politely left out the fact that back in the service, they'd had to shower together. He was pretty sure he'd given some of the cadets a few confidence issues, but that didn't really matter. Size didn't really matter when a bunch of titans were looking to eat you alive.

"But I want it to be special!" Reagan whined, and Erwin had half the mind to tell him that he was eight years old and should really consider acting like it, but Armin would have his throat if he found out. The blond had decided that he didn't want Reagan to grow up as quickly as he himself had been forced to, and that was the way he was set on keeping it. "Come on, come on! We gotta get dressed, and then get washed up, and then get stuff ready for Dad- you have everything for pancakes, right?"

Erwin could tell he wouldn't let up. The alpha groaned as he stretched, sitting up and giving the boy a fond yet exhausted look. It was an expression Ray was used to, so he just smiled brightly in return and bounced lightly to get Erwin moving.

Finally, the blond moved to get up and get ready. "Is this how you wake your father up, every morning?" No wonder Armin always looked a little on edge.

"Nope!" Reagan chirped, hopping off the bed to go running back to get into his fresh change of clothes. "I usually jump on him, and sometimes I smack him with a pillow a few times. Sometimes he growls at me a little, but he usually looks really happy to see me!"

"I can only imagine," Erwin muttered, reaching for a button-up shirt hanging in his closet. Still, there was a small smile on his face, and he could understand why Armin loved that boy so dearly. When he made it back down to the kitchen, Reagan was already changed and washed, watching out the window with the eagerness of a dog left inside while its master went on a trip. His eyes followed everyone on the street, coming and going, both looking for Armin and just people-watching. He waved a at a few of them, and those who didn't know who he was waved back. Others just averted their eyes and ushered their children away, fearing the Armored Titan's child and the wrath of his violent omegan father.

If they only knew, Erwin thought, wishing he could take back all of those terrible things said about the Arlert family. He didn't see how anyone could look at Regan's dimpled smile and see evil, or at Armin's tired but determined state as he raised his son and see a cruel man. He supposed it didn't really help that Armin had been so ferocious with those parents that had dared to voice their opinion on Reagan aloud, and the same with those children that had tried to bully him- but really, no one could blame him. He'd been dealing with that kind of maliciousness ever since Reiner's secret had been announced to the public, and a fresh wave of it after the incident with Reagan's toe. Still, Armin had pushed on, and he'd managed to bring up this sweet little boy with perfect blond curls and a sharp mind.

"I thought I told you that he wouldn't be here so soon," Erwin said, starting to pull out the flour and sugar. Sugar went in pancakes, right? "He's probably sleeping in, like we should be."

"He'll be here," Reagan answered confidently, resting his chin on his palms. He'd be handsome, some day- Erwin could already see it. "He knows I like to get up early. Dad never lets me down."

Erwin wondered what Armin was doing last night, and if Reagan would be disappointed by it if he knew. He hoped that Armin had just enjoyed a nice book before settling down for the night, and that Eren hadn't come back because he'd been given the guest room. He wouldn't even been that surprised if they'd ended up sharing a bed together- they'd always been very close. Erwin could see early on that Eren intended to court the omega, but with the whole mess after Reiner, Armin might not ever want someone that way again. Eren would be there for him, anyway.

Reagan hummed a song he didn't know, one he'd just decided to make up, and swung his feet as he looked at all of the people passing by. The district wasn't exactly thriving- there was still a scar in the wall where the Colossal Titan had broke through, one where the material didn't quite match, and it gave everyone the worst chills when they looked at it. Titan shifters hadn't been a problem for quite some time, though, giving the Survey Corps more room to work on pushing toward the edge of Wall Maria, where the basement lay waiting for them. They'd gotten a little more support ever since the campaign for Historia's rule had been launched, but there were still a few more political things to deal with, and the government liked to kick up quite the fuss when considering such a young queen. Reagan had met Christa- as she preferred to be called by her friends- and she was really nice. When she wasn't busy, she liked to talk to Reagan and see how he was, and she even brought sweets when she could. Ymir was always at her side, and she wasn't as nice, but Christa made sure she was also somewhat kind to him.

He and Ymir sometimes raced to see who would get a kiss from Christa when she left. Reagan was pretty sure she cheated, since she was taller, and also since she got to go with Christa when she left anyway. 

Through the window, he caught a glimpse of long blond hair, and almost bounced right off the sill. "He's coming!" Ray announced, hopping down to run up to the table- what was Erwin even doing, he was pretty sure he saw cheese there- before making a break for the front door, and then out onto the street.

He bounced right into Armin's hip, and automatically the omega reached to steady him. Warm arms picked him up, bringing him closer to those bright blue eyes that he kind of wished he'd inherited- the colour was really pretty. "You're getting heavy," Armin told him, grunting under his son's weight- he had a solid build- but the way he smiled said that he didn't mind at all. Reagan wound his arms around Armin's neck, hugging him tight and earning a nuzzle to the side of his face. Armin smelled like their soap and miracles. That was about as close as Ray could ever come to describing it.

"Aren't you going to say hello to me?" Dammit.

Reagan looked past Armin and saw Eren, who'd obviously been at his father's side a few seconds ago. Reagan didn't care. He got the greeting over with, and then buried his face in Armin's hair, shying away from the nip of autumn. 

Eren snorted, then went to go say hello to Erwin, who at least looked a little glad to see him. The older alpha lowered his voice, leaning in to murmur in Eren's ear: "How did it go last night? Everything's fine?"

"Kind of a rough start," Eren said back to him, making sure Armin wouldn't hear. "I'll tell you more about it, later. He's okay."

Armin managed to detach Reagan from his side long enough to set him down and say hi to Erwin, thanking him for keeping Reagan for the night ("I'm not someone's pet!"), before inviting himself in to start making breakfast.

"Have you been up long?"

"No, not really. Reagan was awake before I was, but it seemed like he knew exactly what time you'd get here."

"I was a little late, actually. I didn't sleep-"

Blah blah, grown up talk. Reagan watched as Armin started organizing things, scoffing at the cheese before he started mixing the dry ingredients. Erwin had insisted that when shredded, cheese was actually quite good in baked things, but Armin didn't want to hear it. Nothing messed with his perfect pancakes. 

"And that's _muffins_ ," he said, shooting Erwin what Ray had come to call The Look. He got the same one when he tried to raise frogs in the bathtub. "You can make cheese muffins, or biscuits, but never pancakes."

"How would you know?" Erwin just didn't know when to back down. "Have you ever tried it?"

"I'd try it," Eren said from his spot at the kitchen table, right next to where Armin was mixing. 

He got The Look, too. "Fine. When you make breakfast, you can try it. I'd let you do a lot of dumb things, Eren, but you have to draw the line somewhere."

"'s not what you said when we decided to see the outside world," Eren muttered. Armin gave him The Look again, and then another one, like he was stuck between two conflicting opinions.

Eren grinned at him, and that seemed to make up Armin's mind. The blond hit him in the face with a pinch of flour.

-

Reagan ate way too many pancakes. He knew as soon as he started loading up his second plate, and he knew as soon as Armin said "You're eating way too many pancakes", but it seemed like he was determined to destroy himself. It was so worth it, though. Armin's pancakes were worth death and indigestion. For once, Eren agreed with him, and happily matched Ray pancake for pancake, but without the stomach cramps. Stupid adults and their stupid larger stomachs.

One day, Reagan was going to be big, and then he'd eat as many pancakes as he damn well pleased.

After breakfast, Eren washed, Reagan dried, and Erwin put things away. It gave Armin time to sit down and rest for a while, since standing for too long still left him sore in the hips sometimes- he'd been a little too small to carry Reagan through pregnancy, and it had been hell on his waist. Ray tried not to feel bad about it, since it hadn't really been his fault that he'd been conceived in the first place, but whenever he saw the stretch marks he kind of wanted to cry a little. Armin assured him they didn't hurt, but they all looked like scars to him, and he didn't like it.

"You know," Armin said, sipping at a glass of apple juice. "Usually, it'd be the alpha with three omegas to clean up after them."

Eren grinned, turning away from the sink to look at Armin's relaxed posture. "Since when have you ever been society's idea of an omega, huh?"

"Mm..." the blond hummed, smiling against his glass. "Never."

Reagan wanted to puke. "Can you guys stop making kissy faces at each other! I'm right here!"

Oddly enough, that left both Armin and Eren red in the face, and Erwin was practically in stitches when he caught on to what had happened last night.

"Rough night?"

"Erwin," Armin muttered, "you're not my commander anymore, so I have no problem with telling you to shut up."

Erwin roared with laughter at that, which got Reagan laughing too. He liked seeing everyone like this- just kind of having a good time. He knew that Armin would be leaving for training soon, so he wanted as many of these memories as he could get.

Though maybe not that memory of Eren and Armin clasping hands as the Arlerts were getting ready to leave. That was pretty gross.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> someone ordered pancakes


End file.
